Grossman & Jones Real Estate Blog - housing

"More housing could be headed to Lakeway"

Austin Business Journal reports, "Lakeway City Council must decide whether to rezone a 33.9-acre tract and clear the way for a largely residential community in the city.

At an Aug. 2 meeting, Lakeway’s Zoning and Planning Commission voted unanimously to recommend the rezoning to Council. The proposed change would see the tract switch from single-family temp zoning to a planned unit development, according to the meeting agenda.

Housing developer Cascade Homes LLC made the rezoning request for the Balcones Point PUD on behalf of the property owners, the MB Winborn Trust and Gregory & Kenneth Winborn Irrevocable Trust.

It was not clear when Council could vote on the rezoning. It typically meets on the third Monday of each month.

If built, the…

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"Austin expedites land use reforms for denser housing"

Austin Business Journal reports, "a push by a handful of Austin-based nonprofits to expedite construction of denser, more affordable housing has garnered a response from City Hall.

A coalition of housing-focused organizations issued a call to city leaders on July 7 to expedite code changes to enable developers to build denser and faster than previously allowed. The letter was from the Austin Housing Coalition, Transit Forward, HousingWorks Austin and the Austin Justice Coalition.

About two weeks later, Austin City Council unanimously approved a resolution July 20 that authorizes the city manager to propose code amendments that complement the city’s ongoing piecemeal changes to its land development code. The ultimate goal is to streamline…

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"Austin housing economist: forecast calls for cooling home prices, lower mortgage rates"

Shonda Novak of Austin American-Statesmant writes,  "last week, I attended the Austin Board of Realtors' second annual Central Texas Housing Summit. It was loaded with facts, figures, insights and prognostications about the Austin-area housing market. One panel featured the board's housing economist, Clare Losey; Mark Sprague, a longtime Central Texas housing market analyst with Independence Title; and Selma Hepp, CoreLogic's chief economist who gave a national economic update.

Below are a few takeaways with Losey's outlook for the Austin metro's housing market over the next several months. Losey made the comments in a weekly audio interview called "Driving It Home" that features Losey and the board's CEO, Emily Chenevert.

• Inflation will continue…

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"Multifamily development bringing 119 homes to Sam Bass corridor in Round Rock"

Community Impact Austin writes, "a multifamily project that was recently rezoned would bring a planned 119 housing units to the Sam Bass Road corridor, providing additional housing in a quickly growing area.

What's happening

Round Rock officials voted July 27 on a request to rezone 8.51 acres of land at the intersection of Sam Bass Road and Meadows Drive. The land was previously zoned for public facilities, such as assisted living, government services, medical clinics, places of worship, schools and public offices. It was also previously owned by Freedom Church but was recently sold to a residential developer, said Brad Wiseman, Round Rock's director of planning and development services.

Long story short

The city's comprehensive land-use plan shows this…

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"Mortgage Rates Go Up—Right as the Housing Market Melts Down"

Realtor.com writes, "as much of the country swelters under a heat dome, the housing market is experiencing its own meltdown.

Mortgage rates jumped to 6.81% for a 30-year fixed-rate loan for the week ending July 27, according to Freddie Mac. That’s up from last week’s average rate of 6.78%. And the welcome run of median home prices declining for 42 days flatlined for the week ending July 22.

“The annual decline in the median listing price evaporated, with prices tying year-ago levels this week,” says Realtor.com® Chief Economist Danielle Hale in her analysis.

What’s keeping home prices so high—and is there any way for homebuyers to find some sweet relief from the punishing real estate market this summer? We’ll break down what this latest real…

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"First of Georgetown's 3D-printed homes hit the market"

Community Impact Austin writes, "a community of 100 homes being built with 3D-printer technology in Georgetown’s Wolf Ranch neighborhood reached a milestone July 22, when the first model home opened to the public.

What’s happening?

Construction technology company ICON, in partnership with homebuilder Lennar, architecture firm Bjarke Ingles Group and developer Hillwood Communities, has been steadily printing walls using its Vulcan robotic construction systems since the project was announced in November. With the first model home now completed, the group has begun selling its tech-forward houses with the first residents set to move in this September.

A closer look

The 3D-printed homes are made out of ICON’s proprietary cementitious mix, Lavacrete. The…

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"Austin moves toward smaller lots for homes"

Austin Business Journal reports, "developers and homebuilders may soon have the opportunity to build more housing in Austin.

Austin City Council on July 20 gave the first nod of approval to a proposal that would decrease the minimum lot size of residential properties.

Introduced by Council Member Leslie Pool, the proposed amendment to the city’s land development code calls for decreasing the minimum lot size from 5,750 to 2,500 square feet or less, with the intention of increasing the variety of housing types possible, including row homes and garden homes.

The proposal also directs Interim City Manager Jesús Garza to alter the code to allow at least three units per lot in single-family zoning districts without requiring existing structures to…

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"As Austin housing returns to pre-pandemic levels, some buyers are seeing opportunities"

Austin American-Statesman writes, "the Austin housing market is starting to look a lot more like 2019, before the pandemic sent demand and prices skyrocketing to record highs.

For the past three years, multiple offers, bidding wars and all-cash deals became the norm for those hoping to get into a home in Central Texas. Now, the picture is changing.

That's the upshot from a report on the June housing market by the Austin Board of Realtors. Here are the takeaways:

• Last month, residential home sales in the metro area declined 8.5% year over year to 3,147 closed sales while the median price dropped 9.6% to $483,000.

• New listings declined 23.6% year-over-year to 4,638 listings.

• The number of homes on the market jumped 38.4% to…

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"As The Austin Housing Market Grows, So Does Its Innovation"

Forbes writes, "Austin, as the country’s fastest growing city and now the tenth largest city in the country, is at the forefront of housing challenges, and taking the opportunity to explore innovative solutions.

Bryan Glasshagel is senior vice president at housing data and consultancy firm Zonda, and tracks Texas markets. He points out that as some of the world’s largest tech companies like Tesla, Samsung, Apple, Meta and Oracle, arrive in Austin, the job growth brings in new housing demand.

The city gained 13 headquarters along with 8 expansions in 2022. Many are tech companies, but others like John Deere, Wise, inKind, INK Games, BAE Systems, and Nomi Health, have entered the market as well.

While adding to the city’s economic base, the…

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"Stop Believin’! 4 Housing Market Myths Hurting Today’s Buyers and Sellers"

Realtor.com writes, "the housing market has been decidedly stuck of late. Sellers with low mortgage rates are holding on to their homes, leaving buyers with scant listings to choose from.

And buyers who do find a house face substantial economic challenges as median home prices and mortgage rates remain high.

With sellers and buyers at an impasse, misconceptions and outright myths are popping up on both sides about the state of the market on social channels and forums.

However, some of the supposed housing issues that are coming up time and again aren’t true. Here are the four biggest myths about the current housing market and why experts say they’re wrong.

1. The housing market is about to crash, just like in 2008

Today’s buy-sell…

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